Sanctuary on Alaskan Cruise

[miss]

My husband and I are Sanctuary lovers and have spent many fun times there. We are wondering how much we would use it on an Alaskan cruise. Wondering if others have any experience with this. Thanks.

[Colo Cruiser]

My husband and I are Sanctuary lovers and have spent many fun times there. We are wondering how much we would use it on an Alaskan cruise. Wondering if others have any experience with this. Thanks.

 

 

We tried it once a few years ago. It was pretty cold. We won't take a chance again.

 

We now spend hours on our balcony with ski jackets and gloves close at hand.

[Loonbeam]

I MIGHT consider it for Glacier Bay day for example, because of the easy availability of Warm beverages and a pretty good viewpoint (depending on the ship). Honestly, except maybe in high summer I think it would be too chilly to be practical.

[scrosso]

We did it May last year on Island Princess. We had fluke weather the first sea day, it was incredible 75 degrees, and thought why not hit the sanctuary. It was us and 2 other couples. Quite surreal drinking tea and eating cakes, whilst sunbathing and whale watching.

 

On the Glacier Bay day, they were doing a special Glacier day. You had to sign up in advance $60 i believe. Well worth it, we started off with rain, but me being me decided to go there anyway at 8am (get my moneys worth) - they werent going to open it due to the weather, but soon came around as others started to pile in. As is the sanctuary you get that little bit of extra service, breakfast sandwqiches brought round, hot chocolate, coffee etc. Champagne and cakes in the morning, tea in the afternoon.

 

We also had the nature specialists back there with us, so easy access to talk to them which was interesting.

 

The main reason i was so keen to go to the Sanctuary, is its positioning on the Island Princess - its aft, and gives you great visibility in most directions. The ship will turn whilst in front of the glacier and you get plenty of time wherever you are, but at the stern you get even more time.

 

Fot those who did find it cold, there were plenty of blankets and headgear that was given out. They also threw in free photos as part of the experience, with you in front of the glacier etc.

[Coral]

Honesty - I would never use it on Glacier Bay day. I want to move around. Deck 7 is covered and you can go from side to side and front to back on many ships. Waste of money IMO.

[1025cruise]

On my Alaska cruise a few years ago, it appeared that the Sanctuary was closed most of the cruise. The weather in Alaska is a lot different than in the Caribbean.

[So_Tweetie]

My boyfriend and I book seats in the Sanctuary on every cruise - but not for Alaska. We spent a lot of time sitting on our balcony and the scenic cruising day started very early when the Sanctuary was still closed. Skagway was the only port even remotely warm enough for us to mingle outdoors (May) for long.

[Lucky TGO]

We booked one day in the Sanctuary. Save your money it's to Cold.

Tony

[riclop]

My husband and I are Sanctuary lovers and have spent many fun times there. We are wondering how much we would use it on an Alaskan cruise. Wondering if others have any experience with this. Thanks.

There will not be alot of people.

[loriva]

We did it May last year on Island Princess. We had fluke weather the first sea day, it was incredible 75 degrees, and thought why not hit the sanctuary. It was us and 2 other couples. Quite surreal drinking tea and eating cakes, whilst sunbathing and whale watching.

 

On the Glacier Bay day, they were doing a special Glacier day. You had to sign up in advance $60 i believe. Well worth it, we started off with rain, but me being me decided to go there anyway at 8am (get my moneys worth) - they werent going to open it due to the weather, but soon came around as others started to pile in. As is the sanctuary you get that little bit of extra service, breakfast sandwqiches brought round, hot chocolate, coffee etc. Champagne and cakes in the morning, tea in the afternoon.

 

We also had the nature specialists back there with us, so easy access to talk to them which was interesting.

 

The main reason i was so keen to go to the Sanctuary, is its positioning on the Island Princess - its aft, and gives you great visibility in most directions. The ship will turn whilst in front of the glacier and you get plenty of time wherever you are, but at the stern you get even more time.

 

Fot those who did find it cold, there were plenty of blankets and headgear that was given out. They also threw in free photos as part of the experience, with you in front of the glacier etc.

 

Thanks for posting your experience, scrosso. We had the same question about the Sanctuary and Alaska as we will not have a balcony on our Grand Princess cruise in early June. We were wondering, specifically, if they would open it for the scenic cruising day on Tracy Arm. That is scheduled for 0500-1000 hours. Anyone have any idea if the Sanctuary would open early for this?

 

Even if no one has experience and knows the answer to this question, we now know from scrosso's experience that, at least on one Princess ship, they have offered a special scenic cruising opportunity. So we'll pay a visit to the Sanctuary on the Grand upon boarding and ask. Thanks as always to CC.com members for sharing great information!

[Loonbeam]

They always do Glacier Bay. Tracy Arm I cannot recall seeing.

 

One note. The Sanctuary area is not always secured off hours on some ships (although the loungers are covered, etc). When we did the Panama Canal, even though they had a special Canal Day booking starting at 8 which we didn't take, we were told we were welcome to go up there for photos, etc and just to get the view before they started setting up.

 

Thanks for posting your experience, scrosso. We had the same question about the Sanctuary and Alaska as we will not have a balcony on our Grand Princess cruise in early June. We were wondering, specifically, if they would open it for the scenic cruising day on Tracy Arm. That is scheduled for 0500-1000 hours. Anyone have any idea if the Sanctuary would open early for this?

 

Even if no one has experience and knows the answer to this question, we now know from scrosso's experience that, at least on one Princess ship, they have offered a special scenic cruising opportunity. So we'll pay a visit to the Sanctuary on the Grand upon boarding and ask. Thanks as always to CC.com members for sharing great information!